It's a good thing I don't have a long driving commute, a Random WriMo Wrednesday

If I did, I would have to have some kind of voice recording device.  Otherwise I would be a total traffic nuisance, jotting down random ideas every few minutes on whatever scrap of paper (old parking pass, raffle ticket, window flyer, kleenex) I could find.  I drove into Corpus Christi this morning, and by the time I got to my first stop, I had a piece of paper (old parking pass) that looked like this (click to embiggen):

The front passenger seat of my van, with a scrap of paper and pen

A closer view of the front passenger seat of my van, with a scrap of paper and a pen

A close view of the piece of paper on the front seat of my van

I’ll decode that for you, with an explication of each entry, shall I?  I shall.  When I turned on the radio, it was tuned (miraculously) the the local public radio station, which was transitioning from Morning Edition to First Hour (local classical music), with a stopover at Garrison Keillor’s Writer’s Almanac.  Got that?  

1. “Sesame Street”  One of Keillor’s entries noted that today is the anniversary from 1969 of the first broadcast of Sesame Street.  In particular Keillor discussed the audience testing the show did on children to determine that conversations between people and muppets held children’s attention the longest, and so those conversations became a main feature of the show.  Later studies also determined that children who watched Sesame Street did better on standardized tests.  Happy Birthday Sesame Street. 

2. On First Hour, the host began by wishing Happy Birthday to the United States Marine Corps, which is a little older than Sesame Street.  Then he played a rousing rendition of “Semper Fidelis.” Happy Birthday Marine Corps. Which led me to remember that…

3. Tomorrow is Veteran’s Day here in the U.S.  “Love you Bro/Fam” I’ve been posting 25 Days of Thanks on my Facebook page (you’ll see it here later this month).  I decided tomorrow’s thanks should clearly go to veterans, but in particular I wanted to post some love to veterans I’m connected to on Facebook.  Like Partner (Air Force), my brother (Army Reserve) and others (Navy, Coast Guard, Army).  And to those of you out there who are veterans of the armed services of the United States, a hearty thank you for the commitment and sacrifices you made to serve.  The payback does not always justify what you gave/give, but for this day, I hope we can do right by you, and remind society and government to do right by you always.   

4. “donut!” Um, I didn’t want to forget to get myself a donut.  Which I planned to eat when I met my NaNoWriMo writing goal for today.  I couldn’t decide between Pumpkin Spice Cake Donut and Chocolate Cake Donut, so I bought both.  I ate the pumpkin spice after I’d written 2100 words, but was starving.  A short while ago, I made my 2500 word goal for today, and thus crossed the halfway point of NaNo.  My total word count is now 25,139. Hence the donut celebration.  I shall soon consume the chocolate (now that I’ve remembered it).

5. “lean of bike on crosstown” I had a short crush on the guy on the motorcycle who was behind me almost the entire trip across town.  He drove the bike in such a confident and relaxed and non-jackassy way.  In particular I was totally in love with the way that the bike leaned over to the left on the rising curve of the exit from Crosstown Expressway to SPID (that’s South Padre Island Drive for you non-Texas-Coastal-Benders).  Is there anything sexier than that lean, that just looks so dangerous and yet holds itself together?  

6. “traffic nuisance”  That would be me, with the pen and scrap of paper. 

7. “glassy bay” That would be the incredibly still water around Corpus Christi’s North Beach when I drove into the city.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen the water so still and smooth and bright.  Beautiful.

On the return trip, I added lyrics from two songs that I wanted to look up (not pictured), “Gulf Coast Romance” and “when she rocks she rocks.”  I haven’t looked up either of them yet.  Feel free to enlighten me in the comments if you know them.  

Comments

[Maria]

You are my hero. Once, not in the middle of NaNoMadness, I pulled over and started writing on a napkin after an insane moment of incredulity that my car is usually a giant mess full of all kinds of crap, and on this day, not a scrap of paper. I had to write...or I was going to die.

[Beth Lowe]

I so do this, too. In fact, I have to admit that occasionally I'll hold whatever little scrappy piece of paper I have on the middle of the steering wheel and scrawl something without taking my eyes off the road. It works as long as I can read the scrawl.

A lot of times the car is the place where I get my best ideas or, more often, where that niggling passage suddenly becomes clear, and I think of the perfect phrase or sentence. I have to pull over and write it down because, if I don't, I'll lose it.

I bought a little microphone that looks like a thumbtack for about $10 that plugs into my iTouch and uses the voice memo software that's already pre-installed. It does work. Now I just have to remember to take it with me. Not sure, though, if it will be as good as the writing, though. I'll let you know.

P.S. Great blog.

Beth (aka pinemeadowpond)